Harris will portray Sen. John McCain in the movie, which follows McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, from his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (Moore) as his running mate to their ultimate defeat in the general election. Based on the bestselling book Game Change, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, the film is directed by Jay Roach and written by Danny Strong, whose previous collaboration was HBO’s Recount, about the 2000 Florida recount. Playtone is producing in association with Roach’s Everyman Pictures, with Hanks, Goetzman and Roach executive producing. Strong serves as co-executive producer. Harris, who has 4 Oscar nominations, also played a presidential candidate in the 1992 feature comedy Running Mates. On HBO, he previously starred in the movie Empire Falls, which earned him an Emmy nomination.

In addition to Game Change, HBO also is developing a miniseries about former Vice President Dick Cheney.